Candy Corn Cupcakes
These simple vanilla cupcakes can easily be dressed up to resemble the layers of candy corn goodness, perfect for Halloween!
Ever since I started to blog full-time, I feel like I’ve gone a bit crazy. I’m at 2-3 grocery stores on a daily basis to find that perfect, ripe avocado, and now I’ve gotten into the habit of personally holding the avocados in my hand instead of throwing them into the shopping cart. You know I can’t have it bruised for the photos. And if I can’t find a certain ingredient, I’ll take extreme measures, like using the tortilla strips from a salad kit for my chicken tortilla soup.
But I might have done the craziest thing ever with these cupcakes here. See, I couldn’t find orange and yellow sprinkles so I took my stash of colored sprinkles and a tweezer to individually pick out the orange and yellow ones. But that’s not the end. I then strategically put each of these individual sprinkles on the frosting here. I figured, if I was crazy enough to pick each of them out, I might as well go all the way, right?
But aside from my neuroticness, let me tell you how fun these cupcakes are. It’s a simple vanilla based cupcake because well, I actually don’t really like candy corn, but with a little bit of food coloring, you could have a cute, orange and yellow layered cupcake so perfect for Halloween! Best of all, even non-candy corn lovers will go crazy over these!
Candy Corn Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
- Yellow food coloring
- Red food coloring
- Yellow nonpareils, for garnish
- Orange nonpareils, for garnish
- Candy corn, for garnish
For the vanilla buttercream frosting
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in egg, one at a time, until well combined. Beat in vanilla just until incorporated. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients and milk alternately in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.
- Divide batter in half; tint one batch yellow with yellow food coloring and tint second batch orange by combining yellow and red food coloring.
- Scoop a spoonful of yellow batter evenly into the muffin tray. Top with orange batter to completely cover yellow batter. Place into oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
- In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 1-2 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add milk and vanilla, beating just until incorporated. Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, approximately 1-2 minutes.
- Use a small offset spatula or a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip to frost cupcakes, garnished with nonpareils and candy corn, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Your mad dedication has paid off! These cupcakes are Halloween picture perfect. Also, I have gone to 2-3 grocery stores in one day, just because I was party planning and couldn’t get myself (or my shopping list) together. You’re not alone 🙂
These are adorable! I’m not a fan of candy corn, but I’d just share that part with my kids and keep the cupcake for myself. 🙂
I’m truly amazed at your patience and dexterity! I don’t think me and my tweezers could’ve done as nice a job! These are gorgeous and are right, very fun!
These are beautiful cupcakes!
These are so much fun! And I totally get you on the OCD-ness. When I first looked the pictures (before reading), my initial reaction was “those sprinkles are PERFECT!”–so it was totally worth it 😉 I get a little neurotic when it comes to food too.
Definitely pinning these.
Your meticulous work here totally paid off – I was drawn in the moment I saw the photo! These are so much fun!
Lady, I just bought a pack of candy corn. For the very first time ever! I was gonna save them for some special time because I’ve read tons about these classic all-American candy and finally saw them sold at a store recently. Some American grocery products fair thing. I was sondering how you got your sprinkles on so evenly. Figures. Things bakers/bloggers/awesome people do for pretty pictures. 😉
Omg….I was thinking, before I even read the post, did she hand place those non-pareils on? And not only are sprinkles so hard to work with, but at least the flat ones arent as squirmy. The little balls that you tweezed on…girl, my hat is off to you! From the cupcakes themselves, the piping work, the sprinkles, the candy corn…stunning. Pinned!!!
Dude, the fact that you noticed that I hand placed those nonpareils – this is why we’re friends! 🙂 No, but seriously, this was a tough shoot. It was so exhausting! Never again am I doing the tweezer action!
As always, thank you for the pin!
I was thinking the SAME EXACT THING (only four years later)! These are probably the most excellent photos of cupcakes I’ve ever seen — all due to your meticulous sprinkle placement. Great job!
I love these, wish we could trade cupcakes! And of course you used tweezers to apply the sprinkles – the precision is obvious to all :).
Yes, a trade is a must! Your pumpkin cupcakes is all I can think about!
These are SO cute! And totally worth the meticulous sprinkle placement! 🙂 Haha love it.